Letter from the Regional Coordinator Well, we've come to the end of another year. It's only natural to both look back at the year gone by and look forward at the year to come. In 2007 the Midwest Region published four newsletters; updated the Points of Contact List twice, the regional brochure once, and the website every month; attended and presented at multiple events throughout the region; and hosted the Southeast Region at a very successful meeting in Cincinnati. Read more Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, Illinois is home to the Tevatron, the highest-energy particle accelerator in the world. But in 2008, the Large Hadron Collider, a proton-proton accelerator with seven times as much energy, will turn on in Geneva, Switzerland and become the center of particle physics research for years to come. By the end of this decade, the Tevatron will shut down, although its world-leading neutrino program will continue. This leaves the lab with a challenge: how will it maintain its central role as a place where particle accelerators produce groundbreaking discoveries in physics? Read more Argonne's Center for Nanoscale Materials is Fully Operational The Center for Nanoscale Materials (CNM) at the Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), one of the premier nanoscience research facilities in the world, has been declared fully operational. Read more NASA Technology Licensed for New Pressure Sensors Three patents covering high-temperature, harsh-environment silicon carbide pressure sensors have been licensed by NASA's Glenn Research Center (GRC) to Endevco Corporation, San Juan Capistrano, California. Read more Glenn Researchers Receive R&D 100 Awards Researchers at NASA's Glenn Research Center (GRC) in Cleveland have been recognized by the editors of R&D magazine and a panel of outside experts for developing products that rank among the top 100 most technologically significant products of the year. Recipients of the R&D 100 awards were recognized at an awards banquet October 18 at Chicago's Navy Pier. Read more NASA Glenn Projects Selected to Advance Technologies Six projects that will advance technologies critical to both space exploration and aeronautics will be led by NASA's Glenn Research Center (GRC). In collaboration with industrial partners, these jointly funded projects will address technology barriers and further develop key technologies to meet critical needs for NASA's missions. Read more EPA Securing Buildings Against Chemical and Biological Agents Workshop Available Online The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has held several half-day workshops for building professionals to explain:
A TV program in the early 1960s had the catchy title of "That Was the Week That Was." As we enter the last few weeks of 2007, I am gratified that in looking back over the year that was we can point to many important NIOSH accomplishments. Read more Moving New Technologies Into the World Marketplace A new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) water research partnership was formed during the 2007 Clean Water Partnership Summit, held recently at National Risk Management Research Laboratory (NRMRL) headquarters in Cincinnati. Read more Managing Urban Storm Water Effects Through Grassroots Participation During a heavy rainfall, the impervious surfaces of urban environments—roadways, rooftops, and sidewalks—generate excess storm water runoff that can cause a long list of negative environmental impacts. Read more Forest Products Laboratory Spotlight on Partnerships Forest Products Laboratory (FPL) researchers have a long history of successful partnerships with a vast array of organizations, from industry to academia, non-government to government organizations, tribes to trade associations. Combining ideas, skills, expertise, lab facilities, and equipment with various partners has expanded our capabilities—and those of our partners—to everyone's benefit. Read more $36 Million Research Facility Coming Soon to FPL A groundbreaking ceremony was held August 15 at the Forest Products Laboratory for a new 90,000-square foot multi-use laboratory (MUL). The $36-million facility will house state-of-the-art equipment and laboratories for four major areas of research: wood preservation, durability, engineering mechanics, and composite sciences. The MUL was designed to address critical safety needs, update outdated and insufficient facilities, and greatly improve scientific capabilities. The facility will feature one-of-a-kind equipment, including a custom-made stainless steel weathering chamber that mimics actual weather conditions, including temperature, humidity, sunlight, wind and rain. Visit http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/notices/events/multi_use_lab_brochure.pdf to see a brochure about the new facility. Biomass Research Funded by DOE Grants Scientists at the Forest Products Laboratory received $738,000 in Department of Energy grants in support of biofuels production research. Two separate grants were awarded, and each project will be funded over three years. This work will aid in the development of new biomass processing strategies and improve biomass conversion to alternative fuels, such as ethanol, that could reduce our reliance on imported petroleum products. Visit http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/pressroom/newsreleases/nr-2007Jul26-doe-grants.html for more information. Collaboration with Los Alamos National Laboratory Funded Dr. Kenneth Hammel, of the Forest Products Laboratory, has secured $300,000 over three years through a cooperative effort with Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The proposal, entitled "One-Step Biomass Conversion: Looking to Nature for Solutions to Energy Security," succeeded in an internal LANL competition for funds and is expected to be funded at a total of nearly $1.2 million. Patent Issued to FPL Researcher Dr. Thomas W. Jeffries, Forest Products Laboratory research microbiologist, was recently awarded at patent entitled "Xylose-Fermenting Recombinant Yeast Strains." The patent disclosed xylose-fermenting yeast strains as well as methods of fermenting xylose to obtain ethanol using the strains. Dr. Yong-Su Jin, post-doctoral associate at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is named along with Dr. Jeffries as an inventor. NIOSH and AIHA Renew Partnership The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the American Industrial Hygiene Association have renewed their partnership to improve occupational safety and health conditions in the workplace. The renewal reaffirms the commitment both groups made last year to use collaborative efforts and expertise to advance the protection of workers, promote best practices, and encourage employers to develop and utilize occupational safety and health management systems and effective prevention strategies and technologies. The renewed partnership will continue through December 31, 2008. A copy of the Memorandum of Understanding can be viewed at www.aiha.org/1documents/AIHANIOSHPartnership.pdf. Filling the Gap, Data on Contract Worker Safety and Health NIOSH has partnered with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and ORC Worldwide supported by the Duke Energy Foundation to fill a critical data gap-data related to occupational safety and the health of contract workers. Reliance on contract workers to perform a wide array of functions and tasks appears to be a long-term trend. But national, state, and industry-level data bases for assessing safety and health for this population are either nonexistent or extremely limited. A task force of representatives from each partner will review existing data, identify the types of data that need to be collected, and the effectiveness of enhancing data systems. Learn more about this effort by contacting Elyce Biddle at EBiddle@cdc.gov. NIOSH Science Blog The new NIOSH Science Blog (www.cdc.gov/niosh/blog/) is the most recent tool for sharing NIOSH research and communicating with stakeholders. Topics posted since the blog was created in November include Stress at Work, Preventing Firefighter Deaths from Cardiovascular Events, and Truck Driver Safety and Health. NIOSH hopes that the Science Blog will become an important channel through which its research can be seen, read, discussed, understood and used to improve worker safety and health throughout the world. Through robust scientific discussion with its stakeholders, NIOSH also hopes that it can sharpen its own thinking about various occupational safety and health issues and learn how best to communicate with all segments of its stakeholder community. Argonne teams with industry to promote PHEV R&D The Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory has teamed up with several industrial partners, including some of America's largest automakers, to promote the research and development of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. See http://www.anl.gov/Media_Center/News/2007/news071112.html Argonne bolsters efforts in security research The Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory has expanded its capabilities to protect U.S. interests at home and abroad. See http://www.anl.gov/Media_Center/News/2007/news071128.html Powerful Blue Gene/P supercomputer at Argonne to address most-challenging science problems One of the world's fastest supercomputers will soon reside at the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility at the Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory, thanks to a recently completed contract for the acquisition of a 445-teraflops IBM Blue Gene/P cluster. See http://www.anl.gov/Media_Center/News/2007/ALCF071109.html Upcoming T2 Conferences and Events
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